Russian Expert Rejects Airborne Landing Operation in Kiev
Military analyst Yuri Knutov says a Russian airborne landing in Kiev is impractical due to Ukraine’s air defenses and the high risk of heavy combat losses.
A Russian airborne operation involving the landing of troops in Kiev is no longer practical under current conditions, military analyst and air defense historian Yuri Knutov has argued.
He said Ukraine has a sufficiently developed air defense network capable of engaging targets at low and medium altitudes. Ukrainian forces also possess a large number of man-portable air defense systems designed to strike low-flying aircraft.
According to Knutov, these systems would inflict heavy losses on Russian forces and make such an operation highly likely to fail. He noted that Ukrainian airspace is effectively closed at low altitude and partly protected at medium altitude, precisely where airborne landings are normally conducted.
The analyst described the gradual isolation of Ukraine as a more effective and less dangerous approach. He claimed that the Russian General Staff had already focused its efforts on striking port infrastructure and railway hubs connecting Ukraine with Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Knutov said a landing operation could only be considered after Ukraine’s air defenses had been heavily suppressed. That would require precise coordinates for all surface-to-air missile systems, as well as guarantees that Vladimir Zelensky would not leave the country before the operation was completed.
In his assessment, such a campaign could last from several weeks to two months. He also questioned whether Western countries would allow Zelensky to sign a peace agreement.
Knutov added that if Russian forces failed to achieve their objectives through the isolation of Ukraine, Moscow could be forced to launch strikes against European states involved in supplying weapons to Kiev.